Tear up unused parking lots, plant trees • Hacker News Board

Re: Tear up unused parking lots, plant trees

#291

Post by JR1427 » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 11:19 AM UTC

notorandit wrote: post #284

Planting trees is not trivial. Nor a green-ish solution. 1. What to plant is important as not all places/soils are the same. 2. Are you also thinking about maintenance (watering and pruning included)? 3. Are you also thinking about environmental compatibility with existing fauna and flora? Planting trees is not trivial!

I don't think the author suggested that planting trees is trivial.

It might not be trivial, but it absolutely can be done.

I think you are correct, though, that we want to avoid planting trees for the sake of it, and ending up with areas with inappropriate species devoid of much life.

Re: Tear up unused parking lots, plant trees

#292

Post by JR1427 » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 11:27 AM UTC

It's interesting reading the comments that are from a US perspective, where there are vast amounts of untamed land for wildlife and recreation. Many US commenters are highlighting that they would rather that cities be cities, because there is already plenty of green space outside cities.

In the UK, most land is either farmland, or built on, so urban green areas are much more important for wildlife. There is a drive in the UK to create more "green corridors" linking green areas together, but this is facing stiff competition with the drive to develop second cities.

Ripping up parking lots (car parks) and planting trees would be even more important in the UK.

Re: Tear up unused parking lots, plant trees

#293

Post by mathgeek » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 11:27 AM UTC

aidenn0 wrote: post #246

sfpotter wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are no major highways through Manhattan. The city is better for it. Drive around the lake if you need to get past the city.

How do you get from the GW bridge to the Cross-Bronx Expressway if there are no major highways through Manhattan?

278 also runs through Manhattan. I assume the previous poster really means something that excludes Randalls Island and the Heights.

Re: Tear up unused parking lots, plant trees

#294

Post by nerb » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 11:33 AM UTC

JoshTriplett wrote: post #267

PeterisP wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In a walkable city you go by a store every time you go outside - you come back from work, you pass by a store or two where you can buy fresh groceries. This has also an impact on healthy diet, giving access to fresh goods which wouldn't possibly last a month and thus wouldn't get eaten if people drive shopping every few weeks.

> In a walkable city you go by a store every time you go outside I'm all for designing for walkability, but this is a case study in failing to understand audiences. If you make this not just a possibility but a requirement of walkable cities, many people won't want to live in your "walkable" cities at all . There are much better arguments possible here. For instance, you could promote CSAs for regularly delivered far…

> don't involve spending an appreciable fraction of your day shopping.

if you're concerned about how your time is spent, i think you're missing a fundamental piece of the puzzle: how much time you spend driving. you could end up saving an enormous amount of time while still going out to shop more if you cut out driving and reduce the scope of your trips.

Re: Tear up unused parking lots, plant trees

#295

Post by brabel » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 11:54 AM UTC

coldpie wrote: post #47

wtp1saac wrote: post #4

Strong Towns has called a good amount of attention to the mandatory parking requirements in many cities (and shockingly, many downtowns). Thankfully, it seems a fair number of cities are removing such restrictions, but hopefully it becomes more widespread. In general I hope the US can urbanize, the older I get the more I realize it’s not really enjoyable living in this country. I don’t think I want hyper dense, but h…

> having more places to walk, bike, and explore that aren’t just cookie-cutter boilerplate-esque suburbs and freeways would be really nice. We're at a critical juncture here in the Twin Cities. The state DOT needs to re-build the interstate that cuts right through the entire metro area (I-94) for the first time since it was first built 50 years ago. There is a serious proposal to remove the interstate entirely and re…

This article[1] shows multiple cities that have done that, many in the USA. It seems that in every single case, it was always a very good thing for the city.

[1] https://www.archdaily.com/800155/6-cities-that-have-transfor...

Re: Tear up unused parking lots, plant trees

#296

Post by Faaak » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 11:56 AM UTC

notorandit wrote: post #284

Planting trees is not trivial. Nor a green-ish solution. 1. What to plant is important as not all places/soils are the same. 2. Are you also thinking about maintenance (watering and pruning included)? 3. Are you also thinking about environmental compatibility with existing fauna and flora? Planting trees is not trivial!

Well, your list is not exactly complicated.. I've planted around ~300 trees in a 4-year long restoration project.

Selecting native species needs to be done, but that's not that complicated (either by asking organizations, or by reading the recomended list by the state/country/whatever).

Maintenance is low. Sure, don't plant trees that need water every day, but that's it. Irrigate them every week the first year. Pruning ? But they're not fruit trees ?

Re: Tear up unused parking lots, plant trees

#297

Post by brabel » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 12:05 PM UTC

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #165

kredd wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in Vancouver, and absolutely love how we didn’t go with the freeway idea. And traffic will suck anyways, might as well let the locals enjoy the walks and life instead.

If you search for Stroads, you inevitably bring up Vancouver. You've just swapped one evil for another. I can't imagine walking along a stroad being very nice. https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2014/03/12/metro-vancouver-str...

Ah, Sydney, Australia, has the same issue :D specially Parramatta Rd which goes from the CBD to the Western Suburbs[1]... because there were many "influential" people living in that area, they never managed to get a permit to make a freeway there... I didn't know there was a name for that.

https://www.google.se/maps/@-33.8710314,151.1203316,3a,75y,2...

Re: Tear up unused parking lots, plant trees

#298

Post by jhbadger » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 12:08 PM UTC

sebastos wrote: post #220

shiroiuma wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Do you have experience living in any variety of urban areas in first world countries outside of the US? The vast, vast majority of Americans have never even been outside the US (except maybe to Canada, and possibly Mexican tourist spots), let alone lived outside the US in a first-world country, and this includes the OP and most people on HN. It's why reading comments on urbanism on forums like this is both entertain…

Most Americans on hackernews have never been outside of the US? That strikes me as a near impossibility. Evidence?

There are only 160 million US passports in circulation (out of a population of 330 million. So roughly half. Of course HN people tend to be middle class or higher so they'd more likely be in that 50%. But still, the US is huge (roughly the size of Europe (Europe is approximately 10,180,000 sq km, while United States is approximately 9,833,517 sq km). There's plenty of places to go in the US without needing to go elsewhere. And look at the tiny passport numbers in the 1990s! That's because before 9/11 you didn't need one to go to Canada or Mexico if you had other identification (like a driver's license) showing you were from the US. I've heard that you can still go to Canada that way if you drive rather than fly, but I haven't tried it.

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/about-us/reports-...

Re: Tear up unused parking lots, plant trees

#299

Post by Tactician_mark » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 12:11 PM UTC

Vt71fcAqt7 wrote: post #218

Mawr wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you considered paying the full cost of living in a non-urban area via taxes?

I haven't considered that. Do you have any data surrounding tax increase on urbanites caused by suburbanites? (If I understand your point.)

Here's an infographic from Sustainable Prosperity: https://i.imgur.com/2rgkaOZ.jpeg

That's just one area in Halifax, but the idea is that higher population densities require less infrastructure per person. Less road, power line, water/sewer pipe, etc. However, low density houses usually pay less in property taxes per unit area than high density, meaning that increased infrastructure cost is coupled with a considerable tax break.

Re: Tear up unused parking lots, plant trees

#300

Post by ajsnigrutin » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 12:41 PM UTC

PeterisP wrote: post #245

ajsnigrutin wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because I don't want to go to store every two days, and the prices in local small stores are higher than in a larger, discount store. I buy a pack of milk, and I'm good for a month.

In a walkable city you go by a store every time you go outside - you come back from work, you pass by a store or two where you can buy fresh groceries. This has also an impact on healthy diet, giving access to fresh goods which wouldn't possibly last a month and thus wouldn't get eaten if people drive shopping every few weeks.

Yes, I could, but I don't want to. Go to store, walk around, wait in line, for what.. 1eur worth of milk? Plus you buy a bunch of other stuff that you don't need, because "it's there". I just make a list, go to the store once, fill up on 100, 150eur of stuff, and I'm done for a week or two. Stores are horrible, people are slow, they 'park' their carts in the middle of the aisle, so you have to bump into them to pass, they're too stupid to use the self-checkout lines but still use them and wait for someone to help them (scan stuff for them, instead of just using a normal line), people wait for 10 minutes in line, without realizing they'll need to pack their stuff and pay, so only after half of their stuff is scanned, they remember to take out their shopping bag, and only after they hear the price, they start searching their handbag for a wallet. Then they remember they need cigaretts too,... Delivery sucks too.. overripe bananas, bumbped apples, half-thawed frozen stuff, crushed boxes, long-lasting food just before the expiration date, etc..

Nope, weekly trip to the store minimizes all of the issues.